According to a traditional report, 'Ali ibn al-Husain heard from his father that his grandfather (may Allah's good pleasure be upon them all) had told him: "I once heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) say:
"'The whole of Friday, the Day of the Congregation, is [a time devoted to] ritual prayer [Yawm al-Jum'a kullu-hu salat]. If any truly believing servant of the Lord ['abd mu'min] gets up-when the sun has emerged and risen by the length of a spear, or more than that-and performs the ablution and does so thoroughly [tawadda'a fa-asbagha 'l-wudu'], and performs two cycles [rak'atain] of the supererogatory forenoon prayer [subhat ad-duha], as an act of faith and with an attitude of total dedication [ihtisab], Allah (Exalted is He) will record two hundred good deeds in his credit column, and He will also erase two hundred bad deeds from his debit column.
"'If someone performs four cycles [raka'at], Allah (Exalted is He) will upgrade his status in the Garden of Paradise by four hundred degrees.
"'If someone performs eight cycles [raka'at], Allah (Exalted is He) will upgrade his status in the Gardens of Paradise by eight hundred degrees, and He will forgive him all his sins.
"'If someone performs twelve cycles [ithnatai 'asharata rak'a], Allah (Exalted is He) will record one thousand two hundred good deeds in his credit column, and He will also erase one thousand two hundred bad deeds from his debit column. He will also upgrade his status in the Garden of Paradise by one thousand two hundred degrees.'"
According to another traditional report, this one transmitted on the authority of Abu Salih, Abu Huraira (may Allah be well pleased with him) stated that Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) once said:
If someone performs the [obligatory] daybreak prayer [salla 's-subh] on a Friday, as a member of a congregation [jama'a], then sits in the mosque [masjid], practicing the remembrance of Allah (Exalted is He), until the sun has risen into view, he will be entitled to seventy degrees in Paradise [Firdaws]. Moreover, in the space between two degrees, he will have trained horses at his disposal for seventy years.
If someone performs the Friday [Congregational] prayer [salla 'l-jum'a], as a member of a congregation [jama'a], he will be entitled to fifty degrees in Paradise [Firdaws], and he will have thoroughbred horses at his disposal for fifty years.
If someone performs the [obligatory] afternoon prayer [salla 'l-'asr] on a Friday, as a member of a congregation [jama'a], it will be to his credit as if he had emancipated eighty of the offspring of Ishmael [Isma'il], delivering each of them from slavery.
If someone performs the [obligatory] sunset prayer [salla 'l-maghrib] on a Friday, as a member of a congregation [jama'a], it will be to his credit as if he had performed a Pilgrimage [Hijja] blessed with acceptance and a Visitation ['Umra] worthy of approval.
According to yet another traditional report, this one transmitted on the authority of Mujahid, Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be well pleased with him and with his father) stated that Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) once said:
If someone performs two [voluntary] cycles of ritual prayer [rak'atain] on a Friday, at some point between the [obligatory prayers of] noon [az-zuhr] and afternoon [al-'asr]-reciting in the first cycle the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] one time, the Verse of the Throne [Ayat al-Kursi] one time, and "Qul a'udhu bi-Rabbi 'l-Falaq [Say: I take refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak']" twenty-five times; and reciting in the second cycle the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] one time, "Qul Huwa'llahu Ahad [Say: 'He is Allah, One!']" one time, and "Qul a'udhu bi-Rabbi 'l-Falaq [Say: I take refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak']" twenty times--and if, when he has pronounced the salutation [sallama], he says, fifty times:
There is no power,nor is there any strength, except through Allah, the All-High, the Almighty!
la hawla wa la quwwata illa bi'llahi 'l-'Aliyyi 'l-'Azim!
--he will not depart from this world until he has seen his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) in a dream, and has seen his situation in the Garden of Paradise, or had it shown to him.
It is related that an Arab of the desert [A'rabi] once came to town to visit the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). "O Messenger of Allah," he said, "we are out in the desert, far from the city, and we cannot come to join you every Friday. So advise me of some practice that can appropriately be observed on the Day of Congregation, and I shall tell my people about it when I return to them." To this Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) responded by saying:
O Arab of the desert, when Friday [the Day of Congregation] comes around, perform two cycles of ritual prayer [salli rak'atain] when the day is near its height. In the first cycle, recite the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] and "Qul a'udhu bi-Rabbi 'l-Falaq [Say: I take refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak']. In the second cycle, recite the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] and "Qul a'udhu bi-Rabbi 'n-Nas [Say: I take refuge with the Lord of Mankind']." Then pronounce the testimony and the salutation [tashahhad wa sallim], and recite the Verse of the Throne [Ayat al-Kursi] seven times, remaining in a sitting posture while you do so.
Then perform eight cycles of ritual prayer [raka'at], as two sets of four. In the each cycle, recite the Opening Sura of the Book [Fatihat al-Kitab] and "Idha ja'a nasru 'llahi wa 'l-fath... [When the help of Allah comes, and victory...']" one time, and "Qul Huwa'llahu Ahad [Say: 'He is Allah, One!']" twenty-five times. Then, when you have finished performing your prayer [salat], say, seventy times:
There is no power,nor is there any strength, except through Allah, the All-High, the Almighty!
la hawla wa la quwwata illa bi'llahi 'l-'Aliyyi 'l-'Azim!
By the One who holds the soul of Muhammad in His hand, no truly believing man [mu'min], and no truly believing woman [mu'mina], will perform this particular ritual prayer [salat] on a Friday, exactly as I have just described it, without my being his [or her] guarantor of the Garden of Paradise.
Nor will any such person leave his place [of prayer] until Allah has granted forgiveness to him and to his parents, if they are Muslims. And an angelic herald will cry out from beneath the Heavenly Throne ['Arsh] : "O servant of Allah, you may now set to work with a clean slate, for all your previous and more recent sins have been forgiven!"
Many more special qualities have been attributed to it [i.e., to voluntary ritual prayer performed on a Friday], but it would take too long to mention them all here. As we have in fact mentioned previously, in connection with other special qualities, there is another [voluntary] ritual prayer [salat], appropriately performed on a Friday, in which "Qul Huwa'llahu Ahad [Say: 'He is Allah, One!']" is recited eighteen times. So, if anyone wishes to perform such a prayer, let him perform it!
